Main menu

Cousins will be going nowhere

The reports that Robert Griffin III is going to have reconstructive knee surgery could be out until the eve of the regular season and perhaps longer are not only bad news for the Redskins. This is also bad news for the dozen or so NFL teams who are looking for an upgrade at the quarterback positions.

For a number of NFL teams such as the Cardinals, Raiders, Jets, Chiefs, and others Redskins backup quarterback Kirk Cousins could be a long-term solution for their quarterback woes. He is young and has demonstrated his ability to play at the NFL level with a stellar start against the Browns in December and with his winning performance in relief of an injured Robert Griffin III the previous week.

When asked, Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan indicated that he had no plans to trade Cousins this offseason. However, a statement like that is often interpreted as meaning that the player is available but only for the right (very steep) price. With the draft being very weak at the position and quarterback being the key to a team’s hopes of competing in the NFL, some team just might have paid a heft price for Cousins’ services.

But if that was the thinking before Griffin ended up needing to be helped up from the ground in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s playoff loss it is now null and void. The news that Griffin will undergo surgery and have at least a 6-8 month rehab makes Cousins unavailable at any price.

Even if Griffin is ready at the more optimistic end of the timetable, which would have him ready for the start of training camp, it would be folly to even think about parting with Cousins. This is RG3’s second ACL repair and even if the starts the season seemingly healthy he has to be considered to be at more of a risk of missing games than your typical quarterback.

So it looks like Cousins should consider buying real estate in the Ashburn area and the NFL teams in the market for a quarterback will need to consider looking elsewhere.